Opening Remarks

Session 1: Current Status and Future Outlook of Climate Financial Flows (Plenary)

This session sets the stage by presenting the current and projected landscape of climate finance flows to countries in fragile and crisis-affected contexts and to populations in vulnerable situations.  It will highlight both progress and persistent disparities, drawing attention to systemic barriers and the urgency of reform. The session aims to provide a shared evidence base for the discussions ahead.

Opening Remarks:

• Ms. Natasha Nadazdin, Deputy Director, Global Partnership Countries, WFP
• Mr. Daniele Violetti, Senior Director, UNFCCC
• H.E. Mr. Elshad Iskandarov, Ambassador, COP29 Presidency, Azerbaijan
• Ms. Helche Silvester, Manager, g7+ Secretariat
• Mr. Hoygun Kim, Alternative Permanent Representative, Embassy of Korea

Session 2: From Climate Goals to Financial Needs - Bridging the Gaps (Plenary)

This session brings national voices to the forefront. High-level representatives from national governments will reflect on their countries’ efforts to address climate vulnerabilities through targeted financing. Building on their national climate goals and commitments, panellists will discuss how these have been translated into actionable financial strategies, and the specific funding needs that arise in contexts of fragility, vulnerability, or limited fiscal space. This session is intended to ground the discussions in real country contexts and set the tone for action-oriented dialogue in subsequent sessions.

Guiding Questions for Panellists:

• Based on your country’s experience, what are the challenges and opportunities in accessing climate finance to date?
• What changes would you like to see in the climate finance architecture to ensure better alignment and responsiveness to your needs and priorities?
• Over the past two years, what positive trends have you seen in climate finance access or delivery? How have these translated into concrete benefits for your country’s climate and resilience agenda?
• As we open this event and look ahead to COP30, what are your top strategic recommendations to the UNFCCC process and global finance community to make climate finance more accessible, equitable, and impactful—especially for vulnerable countries?

Additional time will be set aside for audience to engage through Q&A

Moderator: Mr. Yolando Velasco, Manager, Means of Implementation Division, UNFCCC

Panellists:

• H.E. Mr. Joseph Africano Bartel, Undersecretary of Environment, South Sudan
• H.E. Mr. Adao Soares Barbosa, Ambassador for Climate Change, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Timor Leste
• Yemen Delegation represented by Ms. Eshrad Aidan, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Mr. Shuaib Al-Zaghir, Ministry of Planning and Int. Cooperation, and Mr. Abdulla Baobeid, Ministry of Water and Environment
• Mr. Gaourang Mamadi Ngarkelo, Advisor to the Secretary General of the Ministry, Ministry of Finance and Budget, Chad

Session 3: Your Perspective, My Perspective (Plenary)

This session will foster candid, solution-focused dialogue between national governments and key climate finance providers. Each 15-minute paired dialogue, facilitated by a moderator will highlight real experiences—what’s working, what’s not, and how to improve coordination to ensure climate finance reaches the most vulnerable communities and accelerates national adaptation and resilience efforts. By presenting diverse partnerships across funding channels—IFIs, bilateral donors, climate funds, and political leadership through COP Presidencies—this session aims to spotlight practical lessons and strategic recommendations for bridging expectations and accelerating access to climate finance.

Dialogue 1: National Government + International Financial Institution

Focus: Bridging policy goals and financing instruments

Objective: Explore how IFIs can better align their instruments to fragile contexts.

• What has worked well in the collaboration so far?
• What institutional hurdles or design challenges have impacted access to funding?
• How can IFIs better align with national planning and readiness capacities?
• What advice does the government have for improving IFI responsiveness to national priorities?
   

Dialogue 2: National Government + Bilateral Donor

Focus: Aligning priorities and improving predictability of support

Objective: Examine how bilateral support can be made more strategic, predictable, and co-owned.

• How has bilateral support helped deliver national adaptation objectives?
• Are there gaps in aligning funding timelines or priorities?
• What could be improved in terms of co-design, co-ownership, and follow-through?
• What mutual expectations should be better communicated?

Dialogue 3: National Government + Multilateral Climate Fund

Focus: Scaling access and strengthening national ownership

Objective: Assess the experience of accessing, using and monitoring GCF financing and identify opportunities for improvement

• What has been the experience in engaging with GCF financing?
• What capacity or institutional barriers remain in terms of readiness, accreditation, and proposal design?
• How can climate funds better respond to the needs of countries in fragile or capacity-constrained contexts?
• What reform or innovation would the country recommend to accelerate delivery?

Dialogue 4: National Government + COP Presidency

Focus: Political ambition meets implementation

Objective: Discuss how COP Presidencies can elevate country-level financing barriers and drive systemic change.

• How can COP Presidencies elevate country-level financing barriers onto the global agenda?
• What does political leadership look like in unlocking meaningful change in climate finance flows?
• How can Presidencies promote simplification, flexibility, and equity in finance access?
• What commitment or shift would the government like to see from the COP process?

Additional time will be set aside for audience to engage through Q&A

Moderator: Mr. Mauricio Vazquez, Head of Policy, ODI

Dialogue Pair 1

• Dr. Abdullahi Khalif, Advisor / NDC Partnership Facilitator, Somalia
• Dr. Lindsey Jones, Senior Climate Change Specialist, World Bank

Dialogue Pair 2

• Mr. Nebyida Lamech Kabore, NDA of the GCF, Primary Ministry, Burkina Faso
• Ms. Anne Moulin, Senior Policy Advisor, SDC, Switzerland

Dialogue Pair 3

• Mr. Kenneth Wangoro, General Manager, Climate Finance Unit, Climate Change and Development Authority, Papua New Guinea
• Ms. Stephanie Speck, Head of Special Initiatives, GCF

Dialogue Pair 4

• Mr. Haval Ahmed Mohammed, Director of Climate Change Directorate, Board of Environment Kurdistan Region, Iraq
• H.E. Mr. Elshad Iskandarov, Ambassador, COP29 Presidency, Azerbaijan

Session 4: The Fresh-Faced Chart Climbers - Climate Finance Opportunities (Plenary)

This session introduces and assesses a new wave of climate finance mechanisms and arrangements, such as the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), the Adaptation Benefits Mechanism (ABM), and pre-arranged finance and disaster risk insurance under the Global Shield Against Climate Risks. The session will provide national governments and climate finance actors with insights into how these new instruments are designed to function, what they aim to achieve, and how they differ from or complement existing mechanisms.

Importantly, the session will also explore:

• What transformative potential these initiatives hold;
• What operational and institutional readiness is required from governments;

And what lessons should be drawn from existing financing experiences to ensure these tools are truly accessible, impactful, and equitable, across diverse country contexts, including those operating in situations of fragility or heightened risk. Moderator will explore deeper, strategic questions with all panellists:

• How do these mechanisms fill existing financing gaps or respond to long-standing country demands?
• What innovations or differentiators do they offer (e.g. access modalities, pre-arranged triggers, adaptation valuation)?
• How are inclusivity and equity being embedded in their design and roll-out to ensure fragile and conflict-affected countries have comparable opportunities to benefit as those with more predictable risk profiles?
• What engagement is planned with countries to build awareness and capacity?

Additional time will be set aside for audience to engage through Q&A

Moderator: Mr. Hunter Mills, Climate Finance Advisor, g7+ Secretariat

Panellists:

• Mr. Gareth Phillips, Manager, Climate and Environment Finance, African Development Bank
• Ms. Zoha Shawoo, Technical Expert, Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD
• Ms. Nicola Hanke, In-Country Process Lead and Risk Analytics Advisor, Global Shield

Session 5: Toward Systemic Change - Transforming Access to Climate Finance From Within (Plenary)

This session aims to identify and co-create practical recommendations for systemic reform in the climate finance architecture that enables long-term, cost-effective, and inclusive access to resources for countries most vulnerable to climate impacts, including those in fragile or high-humanitarian-need settings. The moderator will structure the panel around 4 key pillars, with targeted questions under each:

• Whole of government approach to climate finance, i.e. what has worked in creating cross-ministerial cooperation (e.g. Planning, Finance, Environment)?; how can climate finance planning be embedded in national development or budget processes?; what incentive structures could help overcome institutional competition?
• Country platforms and coordination mechanisms, i.e. how can platforms be designed to reflect national priorities and unlock diverse forms of capital (grants, concessional loans, guarantees)?; and how do we ensure these platforms are inclusive (e.g. local gov, civil society) and not overly donor-driven?
• Addressing fragility and humanitarian complexity in project and finance design and implementation, i.e. how can risk and volatility be accounted for in programme design, implementation, and M&E?, what flexibility should financing instruments provide to adapt to changing circumstances (e.g. conflict, displacement, climate shocks)?; are there lessons from humanitarian pooled funds or crisis modifiers that could inform climate finance design?
• Harmonization among climate finance providers, i.e. what specific steps could help align eligibility requirements, proposal formats, or reporting templates?; is there a role for shared investment planning tools?

Moderator: Ms. Eszter Mogyorosy, Climate Finance, NDC Partnership

Panellists:

• H.E. Mr. Moulaye Driss, Secretary General, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Mauritania
• Mr. Mohammed Alsaqqa, Director, Ministry of Local Administration and Environment, Syria
• Ms. Johanne Butenschoen, Climate Finance Expert, Norad, Norway
• Mr. Simon Lucas, Head of Profession Climate, Environment, Infrastructure and Energy, FCDO, UK
• Ms. Jana El Horr, Global Lead for Social dimensions of Climate Change, World Bank

Closing remarks

• Mr. Richard Choularton, Director, Climate and Resilience Service, WFP

Special Evening Event: From Reaction to Readiness: How Prearranged Finance Protects Food Security from Increasing Climate Shocks

This interactive evening event organized by WFP and the Centre for Disaster Protection (CDP) will spotlight pre-arranged financing for disasters - sharing evidence, best practices and identify actionable pathways to significantly increase pre-arranged financing for disasters that can trigger anticipatory action and early response to protect lives, food security and livelihoods of the most vulnerable.

Moderator: Centre for Disaster Protection (CDP)

Outline the objectives of the day

Session 6: From Plans to Projects – Country Priorities and Pipelines Presentations (Plenary)

To spotlight how countries are translating high-level policy commitments—such as those in their NDCs and NAPs—into concrete investment pipelines ready for funding. The session provides a platform for the 5 pilot countries under the Needs-Based Finance Initiative (NBF FINCOAHN) to present their progress, priority projects, and experiences in aligning with climate finance mechanisms. In each country’s presentation, one to two priority projects in need of support will be featured. This will help structure the discussion and make Session 7 more focused and action-oriented. Conducting this session in plenary creates an opportunity for cross-country dialogue, peer learning, and shared insights.

Country Presentations

• Presentation: H.E. Mr. Joseph Africano Bartel, Undersecretary of Environment, South Sudan
• Presentation: H.E. Mr. Adao Soares Barbosa, Ambassador for Climate Change, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Timor Leste
• Presentation: Mr. Kenneth Wangoro, General Manager, Climate Finance Unit, Climate Change and Development Authority, Papua New Guinea
• Presentation: Mr. Gaourang Mamadi Ngarkelo, Advisor to the Secretary General of the Ministry, Ministry of Finance and Budget, Chad. 
• Presentation: Mr. Abdullah Baobeid, Climate Finance Lead, Ministry of Water and Environment

Session 7a: Pipeline Matchmaking Rounds - Connecting Country Priorities with Partners (Breakout Groups)

The focus of the Session will be on exploring potential partnerships to support one to two priority project ideas presented in Session 6 by the focal country. Discussions may include opportunities for co-financing, sequencing of support, and blending of financial instruments—promoting a more coordinated and strategic approach to climate finance delivery. Representatives from the five FINCOAHN pilot countries will engage directly with donors, climate funds, development banks, and technical partners to explore collaboration opportunities for their project pipelines. Following the country pipeline presentations in Session 6, this session aims to move the conversation from presentation to interaction—matching ambition with partnerships, clarifying alignment with different financing mandates, and identifying gaps that can be addressed through collaboration. Expected Outcomes:

• Concrete feedback from partners on pipeline alignment and funding potential
• Identification of possible partnership opportunities
• Clearer understanding of what further support countries need to improve bankability
• Seed ideas for post-event technical dialogues or missions

Session 7b (Parallel Session): Climate Finance Needs in non-NBF FINCOAHN Countries

A parallel, dedicated space will be provided through a facilitated group discussion for government and stakeholder representatives from Burkina Faso, Iraq, Mauritania, Syria, and Somalia. This session will enable direct engagement with climate finance representatives and global partners to explore how these countries can establish more structured, systematic approaches to accessing climate finance. Discussions will also focus on leveraging support through existing mechanisms such as the Fragility Network, Country Platforms, and the NDC Partnership.

Session 7c: Overview of climate finance readiness activities provided by the GCF, GEF and AF

The focus of this session was to provide an overview of climate finance readiness activities provided by the GCF, GEF and AF to the 5 FINCOAHN countries. Data was collected directly from each of the funds. It intended to show what is still available for participating countries in terms of capacity building and enabling activities. 

7a: Country led breakout groups – Chad, Yemen, South Sudan, Timor Leste, PNG

40 mins per round - Participants can rotate through up to 3 country discussions, selecting based on alignment with their thematic or geographic priorities.

7b: Group Session – Burkina Faso, Iraq, Mauritania, Syria and Somalia

7c: UNFCCC presentation

• Presentation: Mr. German Velasquez, Senior Consultant, UNFCCC

Session 8: Reflections and Collective Actions Forward (Plenary)

The final session of the event will begin with each of the five pilot countries reporting back on their dialogues with climate finance providers and partners. They will share key lessons learned, valuable takeaways to apply moving forward, and highlight any remaining gaps or challenges that require further attention.

This will be followed by concluding remarks from the broader audience, focusing on how participants plan to integrate the insights from the event into their daily work. The session will also include recommendations on leveraging upcoming global platforms—such as the UN General Assembly, New York Climate Week, G7, G20, and COPs—to strengthen advocacy efforts and drive practical, meaningful change.

Working Session with only the 5 NBF FINCOAHN Countries

This working session is intended exclusively for the five NBF FINCOAHN countries. It will serve as a space to take stock of progress to date, assess alignment with the agreed workplan, validate existing completed work, and identify key upcoming milestones. The session will also aim to establish a set of priority deliverables, coordinate joint actions in the lead-up to COP30, and define expectations for 2026 and beyond.